This invention relates generally to a device for measuring the volume of a female breast and, more particularly, to a device of the character described formed of a transparent flexible sheet material capable of measuring breast volume of a great range of sizes conveniently, accurately and with highly desired accommodation of the female being measured.
It is not uncommon for women to have cosmetic surgery performed on their breasts. In one such type of operation known as a "mastopexy", the breasts are elevated to provide a more youthful and/or attractive appearance. In another type of operation known as "augmentation mammaplasty", material is implanted into one or both of the breasts for the purpose of increasing their size. In still another type of operation known as "reduction mammaplasty", tissue is removed from one or both of the breasts for the purpose of decreasing their size.
Surgery is also performed on the breasts for medical reasons. In one such type of operation known as a "mastectomy", the breast or a portion thereof is removed. In the breast reconstruction following a mastectomy, if breast reconstruction is in fact possible, material is inserted into the portion of the breast remaining after the surgery to restore the breast to its original size and/or appearance.
In each one of these operations it is extremely important for the breast surgeon to be able to accurately determine the volume of the breasts before, during and after the surgery. Quite frequently, the breasts are not of equal volumetric size. By knowing the exact volume of each breast, the amount of material that need be added or removed from each breast to produce breast symmetry can be easily determined.
Accurate volumetric size of a woman's breasts is useful for reasons other than surgical. Many women often wish to know their personal breast volume as a means of monitoring weight changes and growth or bust development. In addition, such information is useful in connection with the fitting of a brassiere.
Thus, the need exists for an easily and conveniently usable device by means of which the volume of a woman's breasts can be accurately measured.
In the past, various techniques have been employed for determining the volumetric size of a woman's breasts. For the most part, however, these techniques have proven to be inadequate from a technical standpoint, cumbersome or complex, or personally objectionable to the female whose breasts were being measured.
One prior technique has been to estimate the size by visual means. This technique is obviously imprecise. Another technique has been to use the brassiere breast cup size as the criteria. This is also imprecise since brassiere breast cups are generally made only in four different sizes and, consequently, will not provide exact measurements. Furthermore, breast cup sizes and shapes have a tendency to vary with the manufacturer of the brassiere. Also it is somewhat difficult to determine to what extent the breast actually fills the cup.
One prior art apparatus utilized a plastic container having a discharge orifice filled with a liquid. The breast was lowered into the container by having the woman bend over the container from an upright or seated position. The volume of liquid displaced by the breast provided the measurement of the breast volume. One of the problems attendant this type of apparatus was that it is sometimes difficult to produce total immersion of the breast in the liquid because of the tendency of the breast to float. Consequently, the indicated volume tended to be less than the actual volume. U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,501 taught this apparatus.
Another prior art apparatus used a concave template of fixed size and shape placed around the breast and releasably sealed to the chest. A liquid was injected into the template. The amount of liquid that was injected in the space in the template not occupied by the breast was measured. From this measurement, the breast volume was calculated. One of the problems with this type of apparatus was that it was difficult to effect a perfect seal of the template to the chest, which is necessary to prevent the liquid from escaping. U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,856 taught this apparatus.
In another prior apparatus, the breast was drawn into one end of a fixed diameter glass or rigid plastic tube having graduations indicating the inside volume. A plunger was inserted into the tube from the other end and the breast compressed until it filled the shape of the tube. One of the problems with this type of apparatus was that the amount of pressure needed to compress small sized non-cylindrically shaped breasts to conform to the cylindrically shaped cavity of the tube or to force very large size breasts into the tube was excessive and, thus, uncomfortable to the woman being measured.
Furthermore, none of these apparatus is particularly suited for personal use by the woman.